Help planning long weekend ending in Edinburgh with kids

[Serenitespring]

I have a long weekend to plan in Scotland and have no idea where to start and not much time to plan/research at the moment so I wondered if anyone could offer help here.

Possibly I should put this on holidays forum but I’ll see if I can get help here first as it’s busier. (Cut and paste from chat as I didn’t know there was a Scotsnet!)

Im travelling into Cairnryan on a Saturday and my only commitment is to be in Edinburgh for an event on the Monday night. Will have children with me under 10 years.

Has anyone any ideas of a route and things to do/see. Any nice child friendly hotels that won’t cost too much or Air B&B’s.

I’d love to see a bit of the country, never really been to Scotland and have a nice break with the children before heading to Edinburgh.

I also need to book something to stay in Edinburgh also, people have told me it will be very busy so look on outskirts - any thoughts on where to start? I’ll be driving back to Cairnryan on the Tuesday so maybe somewhere that would start me on this route back?

If anyone could recommend a route, hotels or any child friendly area/activities that round help do much. I’ve been on the discover Scotland website but there’s so much it’s confusing to know where to start.

Cairnryan to Edinburgh is over a 3 hour drive, the most direct route will take you up the A77 along the Ayrshire coast to pick up the motorway through Glasgow and across the M8 to Edinburgh. I'd be tempted to throw the kids onto a beach at Troon or Ayr to let off some steam and then press on to Edinburgh to spend Sunday and Monday in the city.
Hotels can be expensive but it really depends on your travel dates. Your biggest issue will be needing parking which is as rare as hen's teeth in the city centre or comes with a hefty price tag. The Travelodge at Cameron Toll often gets good reviews and it's only a short bus ride into the city centre. Or there's an IBIS, Novotel and Premier Inn at Edinburgh Park which are often reasonably priced and are right by the tram into the city BUT they are on a fairly soulless business park.
There's loads to do with kids......the castle, national museum, dynamic earth, camera obscura, gladstone's land.....
You could head back to Cairnryan through the borders to Moffat and then head across through Dumfries but it's a slow road and if you really want to see Scotland I'd come back for a longer trip and go north from Edinburgh.

If you went to Edinburgh via Ayrshire you could stop at Culzean Castle en route - great adventure playground for kids, and some lovely walks with sea views.

In Edinburgh, depends on your budget but check what parking is available. There are parts of the city that are not in the parking permit zone so if you were happy to leave your car in one of these areas, you could choose a more central location to stay in. Once here, there's loads to do with kids - Camera Obscura and the National museum of Scotland are particular favourites of my kids but there's lots more to do as well.

I was going to suggest the Premier Inn at Edinburgh Park as well. As @emmathedilemma said, it's on the boundary of one industrial estate, and one office estate. But the rooms are nice (I stay there at least once a month on business), it's free parking, and you step out the door and just have to cross the overpass to get to the tram stop. If you buy a day ticket, it covers the trams and the buses, so you'd have easy access to any of the tourist attractions you wanted to get to.

There's the Holiday inn by the Zoo and Holiday inn express on Queensferry road. Both have parking and bus stop right outside for short hop into town

The Village hotel also has parking and a good bus service into the city centre.

Check out the itison and 5pm.co.uk websites, we've got good deals on hotels on there before in Edinburgh and across Scotland. There are a few decent hotels on the outskirts with a pool too so the kids might like that. The village and the holiday inn at the zoo are a couple if them. If you have a couple of nights I'd try and do one night in Ayrshire and one in Glasgow. There's loads to do for free in both. Enjoy your trip.

This is for the village but there's loads more on there.
www.itison.com/Edinburgh/deals/4-village-hotel-edinburgh-3

Hers a couple of vouchers for stuff to do in Edinburgh too.
www.5pm.co.uk/the-big-deal/edinburgh/10-for-the-ultimate-harry-potter-walking-tour-of-edinburgh-for-2-with-see-your-city-23/

www.5pm.co.uk/the-big-deal/edinburgh/10-for-scotlands-darkest-secrets-walking-tour-in-edinburgh-for-2-with-see-your-city-23/

I'm not sure what they like but I loved the spooky tours when I was wee, we still go on them now.

This is a very short trip - there more than enough to do in Edinburgh for that time, maybe spending an hour or two in Ayr on the way up (there's a great kids' playground at the seafront in Ayr, or there was last time I was there anyway!)

Thanks so much for the responses.
The premier inn in Edinburgh is booked out tge days I need.
That itison website is great, as is the 5pm one. They are both new to me, fantastic to know about them!
The only thing is all the hotel deals are valid ip to end of March. Is anyone familiar with how this works, it’s May I need.
Ive been surprised at how expensive the hotels in Edinburgh are!
The village hotel Edinburgh would be perfect especially with parking.

Maybe a place further out, anyone got any suggestions for a family friendly hotel or air b&b or apartment to rent - I’ll consider anywhere but in a city might be nice as we live very rurally.

Or if a city is too pricey, a nice busy town within driving distance. Somewhere will a bit of life in it, we can drive to see the countryside but I’d be nice to be in a hotel with plenty to do nearby or a flat we could walk to cafes etc.
Don’t mind stopping off for a night en route to Edinburgh - but where?
How far is Edinburgh from the coast? Would there be midges in May?

Edinburgh is on the coast at the northern edge of the city......well the Firth of Forth technically but there's beaches at Cramond and Portobello. No need to worry about midges in the city.
Which dates are you looking for? The last weekend in May has been booked up for months as there's a big pop concert on at Murrayfield on the Saturday night, it's Edinburgh marathon festival weekend and a bank holiday weekend. And Beyonce has just announced a gig the weekend before!
Factor in that if you stay outside the city you'll have to add on the cost of travel in/out of the city.

New Lanark

Girvan is about an hour from Cairnryan and has a beach, playpark and a boating pond; it's not as busy as Troon or Ayr but is a good option if you want to minimise driving time as you need to go through it anyway. It's normally easy to find a parking space there too.

If you end up needing a quick pit stop or to use the toilet there's a car park just to the south of Girvan that has a snack bar and public toilet, and a good view across to Ailsa Craig.

Thanks for all advice.
I’m struggling to find somewhere reasonable to stay.
I’ve seen the Crieff Hydro hotel and a similar one Peebles Hydro.

They are more than I’d like to pay but if they are worth it I might consider it. Think I’ll ask in main thread too but thought I’d ask youse, see what you think.

Crieff hydro is very family friendly and loads activities. Far superior to Peebles hydro. Although the town of Peebles is lovely

Crieff Hydro is lovely but it's a long drive, particularly if you've got an event on the Monday night and won't be able to spend all your time in the hotel.

It might be worth having a look at Falkirk or Stirling? Hotels and restaurants are cheaper there, there's good rail links to Glasgow and Edinburgh, and both have local attractions (particularly Stirling, although Falkirk has the Falkirk Wheel).